Laramie County DA Says He’s ‘Burned Out,’ Won’t Seek Reelection

Laramie County District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg has decided not to seek a second term, saying he and his staff are "burned out."

"The caseloads here are just absolutely crushing," said Sandburg. "I've talked to the Legislature about this since I've got here, about the need to adequately fund the DA's Office so we can do the work that the people expect us to do."

Sandburg says his office saw about a 40 percent turnover rate between Oct. 2016 and Oct. 2017. That, coupled with the recent loss of Deputy DA Ed Buchanan to the Secretary of State's Office, has left Sandburg and his staff scrambling to keep up.

"We're basically down to myself and one other attorney in the office who has experienced any really big cases," said Sandburg. "It just would not feel right to me to be taking time away from these cases to focus on reelection."

When asked if the outcome of the recent Sabrina Sawicki murder trial was the deciding factor in his choice to step down at the end of the year, Sandburg said, "I wouldn't say yes."

"Part of the situation with the Sawicki trial was just the sheer amount of work that that took to pull that case off," he said.

"I have a couple more cases very similar to that that should be going to trial this summer, and so I know the amount of work I have to put in on them and I know the time away that's going to take from me from my family​," he added. "My focus needs to be on these cases and seeing them to conclusion."

​So far, local attorney and former prosecutor Leigh Anne Grant Manlove is the only candidate to have thrown her hat in the ring for DA.